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As we are near the end of 2020, one of the key learnings is; retaining customers means embracing more customer-centric and omnichannel strategies. In 2021, businesses are foreseeing several of the same lessons turn into the biggest customer service trends.

Here are 5 key trends that will determine your customer support team’s success in 2021.

1. Remote working support agents
   

   As we continue to face a global pandemic, remote work gained popularity in companies across the globe.. Shopify is amongst those companies that found agents working from home to be more productive in comparison to the agents working from office.

   During a virtual event: The Future of CX Work, Shopify's Director of Support said the eCommerce company uses several strategies to optimize employee performance ranging from hiring people based on their personalities and tendencies (not their CV) to focusing on agents' mental health.

   Building a successful and robust team requires support leaders to not only look after agents’ wellbeing, but track whether the team delivers a world class customer experience. Key performance metrics can be categorized as customer experience, agent performance and business goals. Measuring these key metrics can help support leaders to identify and design a performance improvement program for those agents requiring additional help.

2. Using knowledge bases to provide faster resolution
   

   In today’s world, customers need faster resolutions and the opportunity to solve issues themselves. In a survey conducted by Statista, 88% of U.S customers specified that they expect brands or companies to build a self-service support portal.

   Self-service portals, or knowledge base articles provide SEO-friendly content (on how to questions) to educate customers about a product or service and allow them to help themselves.

   With a robust internal and external knowledge base, customer support agents can find information within no time (leading to quick SLA).

3. Delivering real-time support through live chat and chatbots
   

   As more and more businesses are adopting online support strategies, data shows customers are more inclined to use channels such as live chat that offer immediate support. In fact, the customer satisfaction rate with live chat was 83.04% last year (in 2019) and its expected be higher this year.

   Real-time customer services strategy is termed to be a proven strategy for building trust and genuine customer loyalty, as support teams can provide more personalized assistance. Introducing Chatbots also allows businesses to fetch key insights into any potential roadblocks’ customers face. Hence a real-time support approach is essential for satisfying users in 20201.

4. Customer-centric success strategies
   

   As the world is changing rapidly, so are customers expectation –they seek a sense of success and achievement as well. Although the focus of customer support teams is solely on putting out fires, consumer now want agents to understand expectations, capitalized on value through personalized experiences, and provide an amicable journey from start to finish.

   In order to keep customers always happy and excited no matter what the circumstances are, businesses have looked towards a proactive strategy that emphasizes customer centricity. This strategy may mean replacing reactive methods with proactive approach (such as onboarding and pre-renewal calls) or evaluating your support strategy to reflect an understanding of customers and their needs.

5. Mastering social media as a support channel
   

   In recent years, social media has gained significant traction among some of the largest companies in the world to foster customer communication. It is no longer a “nice-to-have” channel, it’s an essential tool. It has become a core necessity for the support agents to deliver positive resolutions via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

   In the coming years, companies that master social media support will reap benefits such as positive word of mouth, greater customer satisfaction and increased retention. In 2021, social media will be an important tool to converse with customers, share information and retain users.

Stay ahead of the curve

Customer retention should be the core focus for any business to stay ahead in the race. In doing so businesses must go above and beyond in delivering exceptional support. Use a mix of these strategies can help guide your support strategy and keep customers happy well beyond 2021. Looking for more insights on customer support strategies? Write to us at Kishor.kulkarni@aress.com